Regis Philbin (1983-present)

Kelly Ripa (2001-present)

Kathie Lee Gifford (1985-2000)

Joy Philbin (2000)

Ann Abernathy (1984-1985)

Cyndy Garvey (1983-1984)

Most episodes of Live will feature both named co-hosts. But when either co-host needs a break, or has duties that prevent him or her from hosting the show, a celebrity guest will fill in as the other host, usually (but not always) of the same gender as the missing host.


Lisa Rinna and Valerie Bertinelli, two women always mentioned by Regis as potential substitutes for Kelly.


Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, Survivor host Jeff Probst, Bryant Gumbel, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, and Kelly's husband Mark Consuelos are frequent substitutes for Philbin. Joy Philbin, Regis' wife, is a frequent substitute for Kelly.

Brian Chapman (1 episode, 2000-2006)

David McGrail (1998-1999)

Barry Glazer (1999-2000)

Suzy Hayman producer (1 episode, 1988)

Joanne Tardieu producer (1 episode, 1988)

Regis Philbin executive producer (1 episode, 1999-2009)

Joni Cohen Zlotowitz producer (1 episode, 2006)

Michael Gelman executive producer (1 episode, 2007)

Dana Dodge producer (1998-2001)

Cindy MacDonald producer (1998-2001)

David Mullen producer (1998-2001)

Mariann Sabol-Nieves producer (1998-2001)

Joanne Saltzman producer (1998-2001)

Jan Schillay producer (1998-2001)

Barbara Fight producer (1998-2000)

Lori Schulweis producer (1999-2001)

Delores Spruell-Jackson producer (1999-2001)

Kathie Lee Gifford executive producer (1999-2000)

Monica Joseph producer (1999-2000)

Kelly Burkhard producer (2000-2001)

Elyssa Shapiro producer (2000-2001)

Albert Bianchini producer

Christopher Gaida producer

Deborah Koenig-Raptis producer

John Ogle producer

Marco Puglia producer

Ann-Marie Williams-Gray producer

WABC-TV

WABC-TV (April 4, 1983–September 2, 1988)

first-run syndication (September 5, 1988–present)

United States

Daytime Emmy Awards

2009 Nominated Daytime Emmy Outstanding Talk Show Host Regis Philbin,Kelly Ripa

2009 Nominated Daytime Emmy Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment Michael Gelman (executive producer),Regis Philbin (executive producer),Jennifer Ulrich (producer),Joni Cohen Zlotowitz (producer),Marco Puglia (producer),Ann-Marie Williams-Gray (producer),Albert Bianchini (producer),Christine Composto (producer),Cindy MacDonald (producer),Elyssa Shapiro (producer),Delores Spruell-Jackson (producer),David Mullen (producer),Deborah Koenig-Raptis (producer)

[ View All My Images ]

Live with Regis and Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa. The show, known as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee when Kathie Lee Gifford was co-hosting, has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its conception.
It was announced on January 16, 2007, that Live with Regis and Kelly has been renewed through the 2010-2011 season.

History

The Morning Show (1983-1988)

The show began in 1983 as The Morning Show, a local New York program on WABC-TV with Philbin and Cyndy Garvey as co-hosts. They were previously co-hosts on A.M. Los Angeles, a similar program on KABC-TV in Los Angeles. Ann Abernathy took over Garvey's co-hosting position in 1984. Gifford, then known as Kathie Lee Johnson from her first marriage, replaced Abernathy on June 24, 1985, and the show – which had held its own against Phil Donahue's show in the local market – took off.

Live with Regis and Kathie Lee (1988-2000)

In the weeks leading up to the show's national debut, the title was changed to Live with Regis and Kathie Lee to prepare for the expansion. On September 5, 1988, Buena Vista Television (BVTV) began syndicating the show nationally.

In 1996, The Walt Disney Company, BVTV's parent company, acquired ABC (and WABC).

On February 29, 2000, Gifford announced her decision to leave the show to pursue her singing career, and spend more time with her family. Her last show was on July 28, 2000.

Live with Regis (2000-2001)

After Gifford's departure, the show, renamed Live with Regis, continued with guest co-hosts including Philbin's wife Joy, among others. During this time, Philbin won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host, and was also hosting ABC's popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. During "auditions" for co-hosts, Kelly Ripa became a favorite and front-runner, especially after a segment on the first episode on which she was a guest host on November 1, 2000.

Live with Regis and Kelly (2001-)

Ripa was named the permanent co-host on February 5, 2001. Since Ripa took over, the show's ratings have increased according to E!. Kathie Lee Gifford returned as special co-host alongside Regis and Kelly on September 14, 2007, to celebrate Live’s 20 years in national syndication, and as a guest on April 14, 2009.

Philbin announced on March 12, 2007 that he would undergo heart bypass surgery on March 21, 2007 after experiencing symptoms of heart disease. Guest co-hosts hosted alongside Ripa during Philbin's absence. He returned to his hosting duties on April 26, 2007. Philbin later announced on November 23, 2009 that he would undergo hip replacement on December 1, 2009. Guest co-hosts again hosted alongside Ripa during Philbin's absence. He returned to his hosting duties on January 4, 2010.

Production

Live, as implied in its name, is broadcast live weekdays at 9 a.m. ET, except for some markets.

The show features bantering between Regis and Kelly, phone-in contests, celebrity and non-celebrity guests. It is produced by Michael Gelman. The first 15 to 22 minutes, known as "host chat", is improvised and also the most popular segment. Following the host chat, a home viewer is called to participate in a LIVE's Travel Trivia, with the chance to win a vacation prize package and a prize for the audience. Following the contest, the rest of the show features special segments and interviews with both celebrities and regular people with a story to tell. The final 3 minutes is the "Regis and Kelly's Inbox" segment, when viewer mail is read.

Its latest theme song, composed by Gabriel Saientz after an on-air, $100,000 contest, made its debut on January 5, 2009, the day "Live" started broadcasting in high definition. Slight changes such as new furniture and flooring were made to the set.

Live has consistently been rated among the top three syndicated daytime talk shows in the US, behind The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil.

The Live series has inspired similarly formatted talk shows. Some have been successful (The View), while others have had limited or no success (The Tony Danza Show, Living It Up! With Ali & Jack). The now canceled British television series, Today with Des and Mel, was based on Live.

Summary courtesy of Wikipedia